A photo posted by poh the dog (@pohthedogsbigadventure) on May 27, 2015 at 7:23pm PDT

When Thomas Neil Rodriguez found out his 15-year-old dog didn't have much longer to live, he decided to do something epic for him rather than dwell in sadness.

Poh, his Labrador, not only has multiple tumors around his kidneys, but a "softball-size" tumor on his liver as well, according to People. "The doctor told us it may only be a matter of days, so we thought we could stay home and wait for the inevitable or we could go enjoy life as much as possible," Thomas told the mag.

He decided to choose the latter, taking his dog on a road trip of a lifetime instead. "I always wanted to bring Poh to the West Coast so he could swim in the Pacific Ocean," he continued. "That turned into a seven-week trip. We ended up hitting 35 cities."

A photo posted by poh the dog (@pohthedogsbigadventure) on Apr 23, 2015 at 5:39pm PDT

The DJ and his fiancé documented the cross-country trip on an Instagram account called Poh the Dog's Big Adventure, and ended up traveling 12,000 miles with their pup. To date, the Instagram account has 80,000 followers. According to Thomas, Poh's favorite place to visit on the trip was San Diego, Calif., where he got to take a dip in the ocean for the first time.

"The second we got in there, his energy changed," Thomas said. "There's something healing about the water. He was standing in the waves, and he absolutely loved it." In spite of Poh's diagnosis, he handled the road trip well, with Thomas adding he thinks "the trip was really great for his spirit."

If there's anything that can be learned from his dog and their road trip, Thomas said the biggest lesson is, "A lot of people are ready to give up. I think some people might have already put their dog down at this point, but he still has these bursts of energy. If Poh has taught me anything, it's that we can't give up – we gotta live. You have to make the most of your time while you're alive."

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